New Bethyl story! I'm going to try to make this one as realistic as possible with their relationship. Leave a review and tell me if you like it or not!

It had been two years since the fall of the prison. It had been two years since Beth and Daryl had seen anyone from their beloved group before. Beth was older, wiser. Daryl had found a special place for Beth in his heart. It was just the two of them together. They had found another group, but it was nothing like what they had come from. No one would be able to replace Rick, Carl, Michonne or Glenn.

The people they had met up with were nice, took them in when they had nothing. Beth and Daryl had stumbled across them at a grocery store and then led them back to an amusement park. They explained how fortified it was, with the fences and all but Beth and Daryl were smarter than to glorify the fences. They wouldn't hold for long.

Daryl decided that this time, he wouldn't lead anything. It took too much out of him. He didn't want to be someone that the group depended on. Only Beth, that's whom he would take care of and she would, in return, take care of him as well. She would be the only one to truly understand him and why he was the way he was.

The same with Beth – it was unspoken between them, but they knew they would never fit into this new group. They would be the outcasts, the people who stuck to themselves. There were people Beth's age and older teens but she still stuck around Daryl. He didn't mind.

While other families had converted the game stations into their homes, Beth and Daryl had taken to the Haunted House ride. They had ripped out most of the attractions and the scary props that were supposed to pop out so it almost resembled a normal house. They used a few of the carts as chairs but had found air mattresses in a Wal-Mart nearby.

Thought they used that as their house, Beth usually liked to walk around the fence of the park singing. Some walkers would walk along with her in perfect pace with her or others would keep attacking the fence. She had filled her moleskin journal from the prison full with songs about the people she had lost.

She believed they were still alive; leading their own lives somewhere out there. Beth wouldn't deny that a few of them might be dead. She believed Maggie and Glenn were out there tackling the world together just like she and Daryl were. Beth rounded the fence for a second time, walking past the slide tower, kids winding down the slick plastic and giggling. It reminded her of Judith and the pain it brought with the thought of her.

That was one person she was on edge about. Judith was the only person Beth allowed herself to think was dead. It was easier to move on that way. Beth walked faster, the laughter of the children drowning away. She would never let herself get close to another child again – it was too dangerous even inside the fences. She would never do that to herself again. And she sure as hell would never bring her own child into a world like this.

Beth stared out into the forest, the light of the day fading fast. She had a flashlight on her person, but she would have to head back to the house soon for dinner with Daryl. Everyone else usually ate at the carousel, a place big enough to fit mostly everyone to eat. They removed most of the horses, leaving a few for the kids to play on but replaced them with tables from various places around the park.

There was a group of men that would go out each day and hunt. Daryl attended a few sessions but was appalled at their level of stupidity and how often they scared the game away. From then on, Daryl went out on his own and brought back just enough for Beth and him to make it through a few days worth. Every once and awhile they would attend the group dinner but it just wasn't the same. Daryl was sure that if they escaped during the night no one would notice.

Beth gazed out through the trees. When she was feeling particularly low she would go to the farthest point in the park and stare out into the forest. She would hope to see a familiar face out there, whether it be dead or alive. She needed closure. Beth turned to head back into the heart of the park but stopped.

She hadn't noticed Daryl sidle up beside her, his piercing gaze searching the trees as well. There was something different about him tonight. "Daryl," Beth started. "What's wrong?" She asked. Daryl turned his gaze on the only person he trusted in this world anymore and shook his head.

"'S nothing," he quipped. Even if they were safe inside the fences, Daryl still carried his crossbow with him everywhere regardless of what people would say. They would question him, thinking it was useless since they were safe behind the fences.

Daryl would quietly, and rather roughly, would say, "That's just the way it is," and walk away. Beth kept her knife in her sheath, a present from Daryl years ago. It was her lucky weapon. It had gotten her through many sticky situations. "Let's get back n' eat," he said, turning slowly, waiting for Beth to walk beside him. She easily kept his pace.

She had grown taller, her legs longer. She almost looked regal or elegant – a silent killer. Daryl admired the fact that she was a woman now. "Do yah know what day it is?" Daryl asked silently from the side of his mouth.

Beth tucked a lock of her sweat-curled hair behind her ear and shook her head. "I don't," she answered. It must have been important for Daryl to remember. "What day is it?" She asked as they traveled farther into the amusement park.

They had started to trek up the hill towards the main part of the park when Daryl finally answered her. "Two years ago, Beth. Today," he said, adjusting the crossbow slung across his back. He squinted out in front of him. He tried to ignore the hurt inside of him of the unknown. It killed him to not know if Rick or Carl or any of the others were still alive or not. He needn't say more for Beth to understand what he meant.

She drew a breathe in. Beth chided herself for not remembering. "How do you know?" She asked, not denying him, but just curious. That was one quality she still possessed. He scuffed his boot against the asphalt before he paused. He didn't want to talk about this around other people and they were soon to the carousel and he knew it would be crowded.

"Yah know the one room n' the house, the one with glow n' the dark paint on the walls? I've been scratchin' tick marks in the paint," Daryl explained, keeping his eyes even on Beth. It was a room she didn't visit often. It was upstairs, a room they hadn't bothered cleaning out. Small, not of much use to them.

Beth felt her heart drop. She knew it had been awhile since the prison fell and they were separated from the rest of their group but she didn't imagine it had been this long. "Two years," she whispered. She folded her arms around her stomach, trying to keep herself from falling apart. Daryl nodded, dropping his gaze to the ground. "Daryl, I think we should start to become more a part of this group."

He let her words sink in. She was right and he hated to admit it. They had been here awhile and had only kept to themselves. He sighed, giving in. "It just ain't the same, Beth, yah know that." Daryl couldn't get over the fact that it wasn't his group and that he had to let go of them when they had taken up so much room in his heart. All that remained was Beth.

He felt her arms wrap around him then. Her cheek pressed against his chest, the frizz of her hair tickling his neck. "I know," she whispered against his skin. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about them." She hugged him tighter though his hand just cupped her elbow. It comforted her.

"That why you're out here all the time, inn't it?" Daryl asked, dipping his head to look at her. "You're lookin' for 'em, ain't yah, Beth? Makin' sure they ain't a walker?" Beth stiffened around him. She never thought he would catch on to what she was doing. She was making sure that every walker out around the fences wasn't someone she used to know.

She had been lucky so far. She pulled back from him, unwrapping her arms from around his torso. Beth cupped her elbows, feeling the tears threaten but she wouldn't let them fall. "We should go get dinner. Eat at the carousel tonight," she suggested. Daryl nodded in agreement and they started to walk again.

After a few minutes, the carousel came into view. Most of the park's residents were already filling the tables and chowing down on the day's catch. It was a rare occasion that Daryl and Beth attended the group's dinner instead of keeping to themselves and eating what Daryl had caught. But it was nice for Daryl to not have to go out again by himself and hunt.

The pair stepped onto the elevated surface of the carousel, gazes drifting from their food to the new arrivals. Beth wanted to blush under their scrutiny, but Daryl just pushed her along with a gentle hand to the small of her back. They had reached the long folding table filled to the hilt with meat.

It was mostly deer and squirrel meat but there was an array of veggies and fruits as well. A group of hunters were hovering on the other side of the table, watching Daryl and Beth closely. To Beth's surprise, Daryl had spoke first. "Whenever you're goin' out again, let me know, I'll tag along." They gave him a firm nod but moved along. Beth and Daryl filled their plates with what they wanted and zigzagged their way back through the tables to an empty one.

"They weren't too friendly," she said, stabbing her fork into the slab of meat on her plate. Daryl shrugged his shoulders. Unlike Beth, he thought, he was treated that way most of his life until the Apocalypse hit. He amounted to nothing in the real world.

He stuffed a forkful of the juicy meat into his mouth and chewed. He swallowed quickly. "They ain't gonna be acceptin' of us right away, Beth," he said, staring at her as she ate. "'Sides," Daryl continued. "We're both gonna have ta get used ta socalizin' again."

It was true. It had been just Beth and Daryl for so long that the people around them just felt like ghosts. "I'm scared," Beth confessed. "I don't wanna forget about them," she said, knowing Daryl knew exactly whom she was talking about. "I don't know if I can let these people in like I did to them. I don't wanna go through that hurt again."

Daryl had the urge to reach across the table and take her hand in his. He didn't like to see the pain on her face. He pushed the thoughts of her dying out of his head. "We gotta stop thinkin' 'bout em'," Daryl sighed, finally letting himself say what he was denying the past two years. "We gotta let em' go. We woulda found em' by now." Beth nodded, turning back to her meal even though her appetite was gone.

She still needed to eat. She closed her eyes as she chewed the remainder of her meal, trying to hold on to the last images she had of the people she loved. Maggie, Glenn, Carl… her father… She saw all of those people when she looked at Daryl. "You finished?" She asked as she scraped any last bits off her plate with her fork.

"Yeah," he grunted. He stood and collected her silverware and plate, discarding it in the bin to be washed by the women of the camp. Beth thought she could help with that tomorrow. She had grown up on a farm, she could help with cooking, cleaning, anything really. Daryl, he could hunt, help keep the park safe. Beth stepped off the carousel platform, looking back to Daryl.

He was lagging behind slightly. "Beth, yah can go on back to the house, I'm gonna stay back n' talk awhile," his blue eyes flashed to hers. She wrinkled her brow an inch. "Gotta start fittin' in." She understood and didn't argue anymore.

The sun had already plunged from the sky and darkness fell upon the park. Beth pulled her small flashlight out of her pocket and clicked it on as she started towards the far corner of the park where their house was located. She knew the path by heart now. She followed the small ball of light as it glided over the ground leading up to the roped off pathway to the entrance.

Collectively, they decided to leave the "ENTER IF YOU DARE" sign staked in the front yard as a joke. Some people seemed to take it seriously. She pushed open the front door and they slammed shut behind her. Beth felt against the wall next to the door for the lantern they kept there.

She easily found it and switched it out for her flashlight. Instead of heading right towards their bedroom, she started up the stairs to the room Daryl had told her about. She had only been in it once, when they first arrived. Since then, she had forgotten about it; but now Daryl had piqued her curiosity.

Beth stood atop the stairs at the landing, trying to rig her memory for the right room. She started down the hallway, catching a glimpse of glowing swirls on the walls. None of the rooms had doors on them, which made it easier for her to find it. And just as Daryl had explained, scratched into the paint of the far wall were hundreds of tick marks. They were in the faces of demons and skulls and the swirls that bloomed around the background.

It almost took her breath away. She approached the wall, lightly touching the pads of her fingers to the scratches placed by Daryl. She wondered when he had come up here and done them. Weekly? Daily? Her hand dropped to her side. These tick marks were just another reminder that her family was gone.

She turned and ran from the room and away from the pain it brought. Beth flew down the steps and into the biggest room of the house where she and Daryl resided. Her bed was on one side and his on the other, jammed into the corner. She flung herself onto her bed, burying her face into the folds and wrinkles of her blankets. No matter what, she wouldn't let herself cry. It just wasn't who she was anymore.

Beth must have fallen asleep because it was hours later when she woke. She was jostled awake slightly from Daryl crawling onto her mattress next to her. His arm draped over her waist lightly. She rolled over to face him. "Daryl?" She whispered. "Are you okay?" She could just barely make out the features on his face in the dim light.

"'M fine, Beth. I just need yah tonight," he murmured, his eyes falling shut. Beth didn't argue. They had shared a night like this before. It was back before they had even known about the park. In the back of a hardware store they laid until Beth snuggled up to Daryl. It was stiff, it was awkward. But Beth needed consoling. It was the first night she realized that she would never see her family again.

This was that night for Daryl and the night that Beth would let go of them for good. Daryl's grip on her tightened. They fell silent again. Beth cupped his shoulder, her eyes closing, sleep dragging her under again. They were safe in each other's arms. That was one thing they were sure of anymore in this world.